Explosion-risky Areas Get More Inspections

February 11, 1992|By Steve Mitra.

Peoples Gas Light and Coke Co. said Monday that it had increased regulator inspections in three areas of the city that are susceptible to the same type of explosions that rocked the West Town neighborhood last month.

Portions of Hyde Park, Hegewisch and some neighborhoods surrounding northwest suburban Norridge have about the same amount of low-pressure pipe footage as West Town, ``which could aggravate the situation if something else happens,`` said Patrick Doyle, vice president of operations for Peoples Gas.

Officials said it could be several months before they determine what triggered the Jan. 17 explosions that rocked the Near West Side neighborhood, killing four people.

Doyle told the City Council Committee on Energy, Environmental Protection and Public Utilities that regulator inspections in the three areas were being done three times a week, as compared to the normal level of once a week in areas of town that did not have similar configurations.

In West Town, the inspections are being done around the clock, according to Peoples Gas spokesman Ed Joyce.

Peoples Gas is looking into the possibility that the explosions were caused by human error during the overhaul of a regulator that serviced the area, Doyle said. Peoples Gas has suspended all overhauls of regulators until the procedure has been reviewed, he said.

Since 1980, Peoples Gas has been in the process of replacing low-pressure systems throughout the city with medium-pressure systems that localize the risk of an explosion to one household, Joyce said.

About 2.3 percent of the system is replaced every year and the entire system will be replaced within 50 years, Doyle told the aldermen. It is being done, he said, not because of safety concerns, but for cost-effectiveness.

``We`re not replacing it because it`s unsafe,`` Doyle insisted. ``We`re doing it to provide better service to the citizens of Chicago.`` Later he conceded that the system would be replaced by April in West Town ``as a matter of prudence.``

Low-pressure systems in the other three areas would also be replaced by the end of 1992, Joyce said.

The affected areas include portions of:

- Hyde Park, in an irregular L shape extending between 55th and 56th Streets and from Kimbark Avenue to Hyde Park Boulevard, then north along the Illinois Central rail tracks to Chicago Beach Drive.

- Hegewisch, bounded by East 126th Street, East 136th Street, South Torrence Avenue and South Avenue K.

- Near Norridge, bounded by North East River Road on the west, North Panama Avenue on the east, West Gregory Street on the north and West Montrose Avenue on the south.

The overriding concern expressed by aldermen at the meeting was to prevent the recurrence of events that led to the Jan. 17 explosions. However, it was clear that not much would change in terms of regulating the utility.

The city has little power to regulate it because Peoples Gas operates under a charter signed with the state of Illinois dating back to 1855, according to Ald. Edwin Eisendrath (43d), chairman of the Energy Committee.

Terry Barnich, chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission, which regulates Peoples Gas, said the ICC is doing everything it can to properly inspect the company`s systems. However, there are only seven inspectors for the entire state, he said.